Impressions: Logan
by Lucinda
Summary: Logan's perspective on several scenes through the movie.
1. First impressions

Fic - First Impressions - Logan   
  
  
Author: Lucinda  
Rating: PG 13 I guess. a few bad words, mentions of violence.   
Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men or any other Marvel characters.   
They are owned by Stan Lee, Marvel Comics, and the movie belongs to   
Fox - I think. But not me.  
Distribution: If you want it, just keep my name with it.  
Feedback is very welcome. Otherwise, I'll think nobody cares what   
comes next.  
Pairing: none yet - this are Logan's perpective of the beginning of   
the X-Men movie. THIS ISN'T LOGAN/MARIE - I promise.  
  
  
Had another fight in the cage tonight. Stupid.....the guy I   
fought, the guy runnin' the cage. Great way to vent some   
frustration, but it gives me strange dreams. But, what choice have   
I got? Real jobs - hell, I don't even know if I know how to do any   
real jobs. Let alone how to answer some of the questions you have   
to answer. Questions like - full name, date of birth, education.   
Do I even have an education? I can't remember anything from Before   
when I'm awake. I have dreams - maybe memories that show up when i'm   
asleep, but they aen't anything I can use to learn who I am - or at   
least, who I was.  
  
Makes me wonder somethimes. What am I? Right now, I'm a guy   
without a past. With claws in my hands. Who never gets sick. Who   
heals from anything. Am I even human? What else could I be? I   
think there are hints of my past in my dreams. I prefer the ones   
that just confuse me - show me faces of people, places - places all   
around the world. There's also fighting...maybe I've just seen to   
many war movies? Better the confusing fragments than the other ones.  
  
The Nightmares - there's a laboratory. Big, expensive. State of   
the art - more gadgets and machines than you need to direct air   
traffic. In the center, there's a big tube full of some cold   
liquid. I'm floating inside it. I don't want to be there, I can't   
get out. I know that terrible things will happen.... NO!!!  
  
I'm not there. I don't want to be there in the jar again.   
Ever. But I don't know quite what to do with myself either. I   
don't exist apparently - nobody knows my face, I have no legal   
identification.  
  
I sit here, with my beer, thinking my thoughts. Hell, brooding   
on my non-past would be more accurate. Time to go soon. Never stay   
in one place to long...can't ever get comfortable. Where to go next?  
  
There's a kid in here. She's young, maybe 15. Pretty, I guess.   
She's all bundled up in layers of clothing - not just for the   
weather either. Girl stinks of fear - fear and shame. She's   
running away from something. Something bad and scary happened, and   
she's way out here. Scared, alone and hungry. I guess...she kinda   
reminds me a bit of me, back a few years. Alone, afraid. Somebody   
can help her though. She doesn't have my problem - she didn't...   
Don't go there! Not gonna let myself think about the beginning.   
  
Cage boy's here. He's angry that I beat him. I can smell his   
anger, the fear under it. The gun in his hands. I slice it in half   
before I even contemplate a more discrete way of handling the   
situation. Bar full of witnesses too. Guess it really is time to   
go.  
  
* * * *  
  
Hell, I must have been some kind of softie Before. That girl   
was hiding in the trailer. She's sitting in the truck with me now.   
She's still scared, but I don't think it's me she's afraid of - not   
much anyhow. Trying to calm her down some. It bothers me that   
she's afraid of me. Makes me feel like some kind of freak. But,   
what else would you call a guy with metal claws but a freak?  
  
Told her to put on her seat belt. She made a bit of a protest,   
saying I wasn't wearing one. I'm not. Won't wear one. The straps   
locking me into place.. brings back bad almost memories. No   
specifics, just - being strapped down, unable to get away - it's   
bad. Bsides, I'll heal. not like I have to worry about a car crash   
anyhow.  
  
What the.... so busy trying to make her stop being afraid of   
me, I didn't see the tree down in the road. Got thrown forward, out   
the front window into the snow. Skidded a ways. I stand up,   
rolling my shoulders a bit to get the kink out. Where's the kid?   
She's still in the truck... she's afraid again. And the damn seat   
belt's stuck. I knew they were bad, trap you down so you can't get   
away...  
  
Inhale... musky scent. Furs, danger, violence... I know that   
scent. From... before. The claws slide out. He's trouble, and   
dangerous, and who is this scent? How in hell do I recognize it?  
  
Next thing I know, this huge fur clad thing jumps from the   
trees. This is the source of that scent. I catch sight of his face   
in the brief fight.. reddish blond mane.. dark eyes. Fangs. I have   
seen this face before.  
  
Airborne - cat guy hit me with a tree. Can't let him get the   
girl..he's trouble, he'll hurt her bad. Where am I going to land? I   
will not let you hurt this one you sick.....  
  
With a thud, Logan hit the hood of the truck and was still.  
  
end part one.  
  
  
  
  
Logan awoke. He kept his eyes closed, trying to catch up - what   
happened? Cage fight, left bar...Marie. Snow, fighting the almost   
familiar fanged man. Then pain and blackness. His shirt was gone,   
and he was on a cold metal table. He could smell disinfectant,   
rubber...metals. He was in a medical facility of some sort. This   
was bad. Logan could feel little moniters glued to his torso. He   
could smell a woman - faint scent of makeup, hairspray, floral   
perfume, and her underneath it all. Woman, adult, calm, slightly   
curious. She was the only other person in the lab.  
  
A needle entered his arm. He had a flash of images - needle, ice   
flowing into his flesh, sliding into cold liquid..... Voices in the   
background murmering long,scientific words, machines humming and   
beeping..... NO!! He sprang of the table and had his arm around the   
woman's throat in an instant, her red hair obscuring his view a bit.   
A low growl rumbled in his throat. He could smell her fear and   
confusion rising off her in waves. There was no traces of the   
fanged man's scent.  
  
There was no glass cylinder. The lab was much smaller. No large   
banks of beeping machinery. That meant.. he wasn't there. He was in   
a different lab, and this redhaired woman wasn't somebody who had   
done... whatever he kept having those flashes about. He had to get   
out of here now. He dropped the woman to the floor and bolted out   
the door.  
  
He was in a polished metallic corridor - bright lights lined the   
wall at the floor, and ceiling, as well as two strips along the   
middle of the ceiling as well. The walls and floor were polished to   
the point of reflecting, if imperfectly. He didn't notice any   
security cameras. The tide of panicked confusion continued to rise   
inside him. He had to get out of here. Why had he been brought here?   
By who's orders? Logan ducked into an alcove, trying to figure a   
plan. How do you get out of a place when you don't even know how   
you got in?   
  
He had to get more information. He moved carefully down the   
hallway. It looked the same, polished floors, lights in solid bars   
across the walls and ceilings. He realized the hall opened up a   
bit. It became almost a room. he looked around, trying to figure   
out what was going on. There were strange uniforms, sleek black   
leather on stands behind glass panels. He could smell the scents of   
their owners on them. Looked almost like people in tubes... he   
repressed a tremor. One of them smelled like the redhead from the   
lab, the others were unfamiliar scents. There was a bit of the wall   
slightly ajar beside one of the leather outfits. A careful look   
revealed folded sweat pants, and hooded shirts. He pulled one of   
the shirts on to ward off the chill in the air.  
  
Logan had a suspicion that this lab and corridor were   
underground - that was more secure, and less detectable. Harder to   
escape from. There was an elevator. An elevator? He decided to try   
it - he didn't see how it could get him into any more trouble.  
  
The elevator opened, and he was in.. a mansion. Elegant,   
tasteful...expensive. Logan stepped out of the elevator, and moved   
down the hallway. This one was panelled in dark wood, hung with   
paintings, and had expensive vases on small tables. There were many   
scents in this hall - a large number of people had been through   
here. The only oone he recognized was the scent of the red-head in   
the lab. He was feeling more confused now.  
  
He could hear voices approaching. He ducked behind a large   
column, trying to figure out what was going on. Where was he? Was   
he actually awake, or was this another dream? As he stood behind   
the column, a large group of teenagers moved by, going down the   
hall. They were laughing, talking. They sounded normal,   
oblivious. Didn't they realize they were walking on top of a secret   
facility? Had they no idea of the danger?  
  
* this way...* he thought he heard a man's voice. He sounded   
amused. There was nobody else in the hall now. He moved across the   
empty space, his stomach tensing. Something was going to happen. He   
felt a doorhandle behind him, and before he realized, he had opened   
the door, slipped in, closed it, and turned to face the room he was   
now in.  
  
It looked almost like a private study or office. Carpeting, a   
few plants in pots, shelves of books. The image was shaken by the   
people. There were more teenagers. They looked startled. A bald   
man sat behind a desk, gesturing at a chalkboard with strange shapes   
diagramed onto it. Small letters and numbers were off to the side of   
the shapes.  
  
Apparently, his arrival was unexpected enough to bring an end   
the lesson. The kids were probably Marie's age, Logan realized.   
They all left the room, edging around him nervously. One of the   
girls stopped about halfway across the room, and went back for her   
book-bag. To Logan's surprise, she walked out through the door.   
She didn't open it, just went through like a ghost.  
  
This made no sense. It couldn't be real. To many bizarre   
twists and unexpected things. He was alone in the room with the   
bald man. He realized that he could smell plastics, and a metal   
alloy in the room. The scent was coming from where the bald man was   
sittting.  
  
end part 2  
  
  
  
The man behind the desk held up a thick book, gesturing at te  
chalkboard with it. "Physics." He proceded to move out from behind  
the desk and closer to Logan. He was in a wheelchair, the source of  
the plastic and metals scent.  
  
He was well dressed. Smelled healthy, confident. The man wasn't  
afraid of Logan, in fact, seemed to have been expecting him. He was  
introducing himself, and telling Logan where he was. Said his  
people had brought him here. He didn't smell like the fanged man,  
but... How often did the person in charge interact with every  
underling? Was the fanged man one of his people?  
  
"I don't need medical attention." Logan's voice was flat. He  
was firmly repressing the panic that idea generated. Medical  
attention: needles, vials of fluids from his body, machines beeping,  
murmer of voices speaking medical and scientific terms. Medical  
attention was the last thing Logan wanted.  
  
He asked about Marie, wanting to know if the poor, scared kid  
was okay. The man calmly assured him of her well being, and Logan  
realized uncomfortably, that this man, Xavier, seemed to be fairly  
unconcerned about Marie, having focussed his interest on Logan.  
  
What did this Xavier want from him? He had fragmented glimpses  
of memory - camoflage fatigues, military weapons. Waiting in the  
belly of an airplane with other people. Stalking.. something..  
through trees and snow. He felt as if the walls were closing in.  
Logan took a deep breath. Must remain calm..observe the situation,  
gather intelligence.  
  
The door behind Logan opened. A man walked in, looking past  
Logan towards Xavier. He was tallish, brown hair. Very precise,  
dark clothing, slightly disapproving neutral expression. He had  
glistening red sunglasses over his eyes. He glanced at Logan,  
giving Logan the definate impression that he was being compared to a  
standard and found lacking. He heard Xavier say this was  
Scott... underlying tones and scents saying this was his second in  
command, one of his people. Fragments of images flickered through  
logan's mind. Men in suits, military officers, people in  
labcoats... Scott smelled like he'd been in recent close contact  
with the red haired woman. Logan didn't like him.  
  
The scent of the next person was more interesting. A woman, she  
smelled like sandalwood, growing plants, and a crisp wind. She  
smelled like serenity and calm. She entered the room. A tall  
woman, with white hair, and skin like cocoa. Her eyes were the blue  
of a clear sky. She was lovely.. exotic. The most self contained  
seeming person he could ever remember meeting. Xavier said she was  
Ororo Munroe, called Storm. Logan couldn't quite figure out he  
Storm bit, but, yes Ororo fit her. A wisp of memory told him the  
name meant 'beautiful one' in some language he could almost remember  
the name of. She was looking at him, her expression calm,  
unreadable. He wondered what she saw when she looked at him.  
  
" I believe you've already met Doctor Jean Grey." The Professor  
spoke again, as the red haired woman came into the room. She looked  
at him as she came in and walked past him to stand behind Xavier.  
She was in a clingy red shirt... had that been under the labcoat? It  
was the woman from the lab. She looked as if she was holding it  
against him that he'd half choked her when he woke up. He watched  
her cross the room. She was a doctor... never trust a doctor.  
especially not one who put needles into his arm. He made a mental  
resolution to always keep track of Jean - God only knew what she did  
in that lab.  
  
end part 3.  
  
  
  
Logan was listening as Xavier explained about this place. A   
school for mutants to learn about theirselves. A place where they   
could learn their abilities safely, without judgement and fear,   
according to Xavier. As they toured the grounds, Logan listened   
carefully - not just to Xavier, but to the rest of the poeple. How   
did they sound? The scents of his new surroundings..  
  
It turns out this place was real, Logan thought to himself. He   
had worried that this might be some sort of elaborate set up when   
Xavier mentioned his memory loss. He was still a bit suspicious,   
even after Xavier had said he was a telepath, someone that could   
read minds, and control them.   
  
He still suspected Xavier had influenced him to get him to agree   
to those damn lab tests. That was part of what made him sure this   
was real. The testing... always testing. They had found the metal   
of his bones, called it adamantium. Learned about his rapid healing,   
figuring that was how he'd survived getting the metal in his bones   
to begin with. needles, tubes of cold fluid .... no. not gonna go   
there again. They didn't know about his senses yet. He figured   
that could wait.  
  
I'm awake, this place is real, the sounds, the scents.. It   
seems to perfect. Big house, well cared for grounds. Scents of   
green grass, oak and maple trees, dozens of types of flowers. The   
students were playing outside, some of them displaying abilities   
Logan had never seen before. They seemd to be happy living here.   
They walked past a room, a glance through the showed rows of kids   
sitting, shelves of books, some plants. He could smell Marie, and   
the girl that had gone through the door... Ororo was in there,   
smelling like sandalwood and spring rain. He could hear her voice   
talking about the Roman empire.  
  
Maybe this place really was all it claimed to be. It certainly   
would be different. He wouldn't have to worry that he would be   
considered a freak - he wasn't more of one than anyone else here.   
And it had a few appeals - the grounds were lovely, the food had to   
be better, and he could learn more about the mysterious Ororo.  
  
Yeah, Xavier's just might be the plaace to stay a while and   
try to figure some things out.  
  
end part 4. end First Impressions - Logan. 


	2. Confrontations

Fic : Confrontation - Logan   
  
  
author: Lucinda  
rating: PG 13 - a bad word.  
disclaimer: X-Men belong to Marvel Comics & Fox movies.  
distribution: want it? keep my name with it & you can have it.  
summary: the discussion after Marie was abducted at the train  
station.  
  
  
He has her. At least I know what a Magneto is now. I could feel  
my pulse hammering at my temples, my teech clenched together. The  
sight of him - an old man, actually. Hard grey eyes looking at me  
from under grey eyebrows as he held me in the air before him - my  
bones humming with his power. She had been sitting in a seat behind  
me, terrified. I could smell her fear, the fear of everyone in the  
train car. The indifference of the man in front of me. He had  
caused terror in so many people, and I couldn't see or smell any  
sign that he cared at all. Made me so mad I could see red.  
  
Calm down, splash some water on my face. It doesn't change what  
has happened...Magneto took Marie. Took her to use in his damn  
plans. Some machine... I can't just wait here while Xavier's being  
shocked that he was wrong.  
  
I know he's upset - can almost taste his dismay at being wrong  
about this. Doesn't bring Marie back..... I failed her.... I find  
myself practically growling at Xavier as I leave the room. This  
whole setup he's got...it's not bringing her back. He's too busy  
being upset to try his mind-search thing.  
  
Nobody seems to be doing anything other than be upset.. and  
feeling guilty. Scott's pretty upset over blowing the roof off the  
train station. Yeah, it was a hole in the roof...but he's feeling  
guilty that his eye beams did it. Guess I can see his point,  
actually.  
  
Hell, if they are all to busy feeling things, I'll just have to  
go find Marie myself.  
  
end part 1.  
  
  
  
Out of the Professor's study...getting to be full of guilt and  
confusion, and my own frustrated anger and fear. Marie is in  
danger.. gives me something to focus on besides sitting around  
feeling things and listening to the rain outside. The stairs are  
better, smelling of floor cleaner and furniture polish, faint scents  
of the students. There are no potent emotions scenting this area.  
  
I have already started towards the door when I hear her voice  
behind me. " Logan! You can't do this alone." I can smell her  
presence...sandalwood, rain, concern, and woman. Somethings's  
bothering her...more than just Marie. She doesn't want me to do this  
alone? That brings up a mess of feelings inside, welling up strong  
and tangled, and dripping with almost memory.  
  
" Who's gonna help me? You? You've all done a bang up job so  
far." Old habits striking now... she makes me feel..too many things.  
She wants me to stay. I have to admit, the idea has some advantages  
and I am tempted. But that would mean I'd be staying where people  
could find out. Find out? They already know I'm not like everyone  
else. Neither are they.  
  
"Then help us. Fight with us."  
  
She was persistant, and I could smell her determination. Her  
words seemed to echo in my head, and as they echoed, they picked up  
another voice. A man's voice - tenor, maybe forty... little bit of  
an accent, lot of authority. The faint shadows of memory clinging to  
the echo of the man's voice were bad.  
  
"Fight with you? Join the team - be an X-Man?" she offered a  
place to belong... something part of me desparately wanted. But,  
everything has a price, and some prices are to high. What price to  
be an X-Man? an ex-man, somebody whose life has been stolen, someone  
who doesn't exist as more than a walking shadow.. I could feel  
myself starting to sink into unhappy reflections of the past.  
  
"Who the hell do you think you are? You're a mutant. the whole  
world is filled with people who hate and fear you," I couldn't quite  
stop the words flowing from my mouth. How could she stand there,  
so.. confident about her team? So certain of where she stood? I  
envied that confidence of place. Part of me knew these words were  
more than she had deserved, harsher, backed with an old anger she  
had not sought to provoke, hadn't known about. The words came out,  
cascading like a waterfall. " and you're wasting your time trying to  
protect them. Not me. I've got better things to do."  
  
Defending people... he was fairly certain he had done that  
once. In his bones, he was certain of it - the same bones that were  
now metal. Had defending people somehow brought him to the  
attention of the dead eyed men in lab coats who had done this to  
him? No dwelling on the past - focus on something in the present.  
Go find Marie, that's the present. Stop Magneto - that's the  
present. Magneto - he hadn't been quite what I'd expected. he'd  
been an old man... with dead grey eyes that showed no emotion, no  
concern that he'd terrified a train car full of people. I'd felt his  
power humming in my bones as he'd held me in the air with his will  
alone.  
  
" You know, Magneto's right. A war's coming. Are you sure you're  
on the right side?" There was always a war coming, but this was  
different somehow. The man with dead grey eyes and the power to  
peel open train cars with a gesture would see to that. Logan was  
uncertain about most of his life, but he knew war wasn't a new thing,  
and that he'd been involved with war before.  
  
"At least I've chosen a side."  
  
Her voice was strong, confident. She had no doubt in her that  
she was where she wanted to be right now. Dear God, had I ever been  
so assured of where I stood in the world? Now, I'm thinking to many  
thoughts. The breath left me at once, almost explosively. Gotta get  
out of here before talking with her and her scent of sandalwood and  
rain turn me into putty in her elegant hands...  
  
I turn and walk to the door. I am distantly aware of a new scent,  
from the door. It smells of fear, and confusion. A man, and sweaty  
clothing, and the sand and salt scent of the beach, and something  
else...a sickness inside. That should have prepared me, but the man  
who swayed and collapsed against me when I opened the door was a  
surprise.  
  
  
end part 2. End Confrontations - Logan. 


	3. Into the Statue of Liberty

Fic: Into the Statue of Liberty   
  
  
author: Lucinda  
rating: PG 13  
disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men.  
distribution: if you want it, just keep my name with it. I would   
also like to know if anyone has put it somewhere, so I can look and   
grin.  
Summary: the Statue of Liberty. Mystique.  
  
  
I felt a bit silly. They had managed to talk me into the   
uniform. It was black leather, like the ones all of them are   
wearing. I'd already seen theirs, in the glass cases in the shiney   
hallway under the mansion. Mine still had that harsh, sharp stink   
of the dye on it that stung my nose. It was pretty stiff also, and   
this collar keeps jabbing into my neck. I can hear us..we all creak   
when we move. How in the hell are we supposed to go in quietly when   
we creak every time somebody moves?  
  
I keep telling myself leather is durable, and has some   
defensive properties. Takes a bit of the edge off impact and slows   
down the likelyhood of your body getting scuffed. Then, I try the   
second line of metal arguement: they simply can't hear the stuff   
creak when somone moves.   
  
Still feel a bit exposed crossing the open area in front of the   
statue. Uniforms are black though, that should help us blend in a   
bit to the naked eye. Won't help if they are using infrared, and   
Magneto's probably got some sort of defense set up.   
  
Slightly better once we enter the building. Until I realize we   
all have to file through... not another damn metal detector.   
Glancing around, I realize there isn't a way to walk around it. The   
rest just file through, and I realize that Scott's visor didn't set the   
thing off...hmm what kind of alloy is that thing made out of,   
anyhow? Second I step under the arch of the detector, it goes off.   
This piercing squeal that sets my teeth on edge. not fair - he   
didn't set the damn thing off...  
  
My claws slice through the electronics that tell it what it's   
reading and what to do about it with a slight grating. I have an   
almost memory of doing thing like this before, along with the   
feeling that it goes easier if you get it before it sqeals... and a   
vague feeling that it should be a bit bulkier. The squealing stops,   
thankfully.  
  
I glance back at everyone else, having turned my face away from   
the inevitable shower of sparks. It's still smoking a litle, and   
the scent of scorched plastics isn't particularly nice. Scott's   
giving me this look... and for a moment I just know he's still trying   
to figure out why I just destroyed that little bit of property. I   
pull the outer claws back in, just for him.  
  
hey, he's human after all. He actually grinned as he turned   
around to continue our forward march. Red's just giving me this   
look that says she thinks I'm some sort of unfriendly savage. Choke   
a gal once, and she thinks ou have no manners. Ororo... she's   
looking all thoughtful. I wish I knew what she was thinking...   
  
We continue into the building. There are little racks of   
postcards and pamphlets, glassed displays of the history of the   
Statue of Liberty. The lights are dim, not as bright as they would   
be in the daytime when it's open for tourists, but I can see just   
fine. I can smell a bit more clearly now, less reek of smoke and   
burnt plastic... scales, secrets and predatory interest..faint hint   
of female. What the...  
  
"There's somebody here." The scent is defiately a person, not   
something the cleaning staff missed that got dragged in and left.   
It's setting off alarms inside me, from along my spine and somewhere   
near my stomach. She's trouble. I think... I must have known the   
woman whose scent this is, once upon a time in the vanished Before...  
  
"Where?" Scott's voice. He's not argueing, but I can tell that he   
didn't know. He hasn't noticed the presence. Good that he's taking   
me seriously. He' gone into serious Leader mode.. different that he   
was in Xavier's office. I think I like this version better.  
  
My eyes scan the room..nothing looks out of place. I don't see   
anybody else. I can't hear anybody fidgeting but Jean...why hasn't   
she noticed this other presence anyhow, she supposed to be a   
telepath? "I don't know." I have to confess it, but I don't like not   
knowing. This vague almost memory says that's a bad scent to not   
know the whereabouts of. "Keep your eye open." call yourself   
Cyclops, you should expect to get a little bit of torment over it.   
and remember to avoid flaming sticks...  
  
  
end part 1.  
  
  
  
  
  
Gotta figure out who's here. I know she's here, I can smell   
her. I go ahead of Scott... I can hear him swearing a bit behind me.   
Guess he didn't like the eye comment. He'll live. More of the scent   
up ahead... I'm going to check it out. See what's there. Who's   
there.   
  
Nobody in here, although the hall did curve around a bit.   
Might as well go see what the rest have figured out... what the   
hell!?  
  
Somebody is walking towards Scott....and it looks like me.   
Smells like scales and secrets and a smug satisfaction. Claws that   
look like mine, silver shiney and sharp slide from the right hand as   
she? he? approaches Scott. Suddenly, I can see the plan. Wear my   
face, the face of someone who's supposed to be there. Walk right   
up, and kill him. Run in the confusion. Then, I catch all the   
consequences... Hell no, not again!  
  
Part of me is still trying to figure out the again part as I   
leap from the side to tackle the imposter me. I am aware of the   
startled looks from the rest as we roll across the floor and end up   
in a smaller room to the side. The imposter makes a smug little   
kiss face at me when we both end up on our feet. Both of us produce   
sharp claws....  
  
I can hear footsteps at Scott, Jean and Ororo come this way.   
They have no idea what's going on. Hell, now is no time for   
friendly fire!  
  
"Wait!" I practically bellow at them, not wanting the in the way   
of this killer wearing my face and not wanting hit by them trying to   
help... oddly, I'm pretty sure they would try to help. so this is   
being part of a team...  
  
There's a counterweight to keep the door into here open. I   
slash at the rope hoding it, and the weight drops. The door, a   
heavy metal one probably intended to hold back fires, slams shut. I   
can hear Scott swearing again on the other side.  
  
I lunge at the other, slashing with my claws. I can handle a   
fight... I have practice. Lots of plactice. The other tries o   
parry my blow with her own claws, and they just.. part. The ends of   
the other's claws fall to the floor with the faint scent of blood.   
I probably shouldn't smile a bit as the imposter shrieks in paned   
outrage. High, definately a female shriek. I lunge again and end   
up with my claws embedded in the wall as she dodges and runs down   
the hall.  
  
I can hear some crashing outside, the sounds of breaking glass.   
No scent though... not past that door. Better go back and see what   
the rest are doing.. sounds like I'm missing another fight. Gonna   
follow the other, the hallway has to go somewhere, and I'm figuring   
it will go back somewhere she can go after the team again.  
  
I see a figure up ahead in the hall... hah! It's that   
imposter! Let round 2 begin... and it does. Kicks, flips.. kinda   
fun. I can feel everything ... muscles getting nicely warmed up,   
blood singing... probably the adrenalin or something. I could do   
this all day. Whoever she is, she's good. Even if she is wearing   
my face. no more kiss faces at least... thank God for small favors.   
Scowling at me now, at least he expression fit the face. Now, the   
other doesn't smell smug but angry.  
  
Suddenly, from half crouched and scowling, the other leaps up   
into the air. I see the spinning kick taking shape... oh my god....   
As the other turned, the flesh somehow... twisted and shrank   
inwards. The foot that finally connected with Logan was blue, and   
slightly scaled. All of her was blue and slightly scaled. She had   
yellow snake eyes and short red hair. A shapeshifter.... not   
encouraging. The shock stunned him as much as the impact of her   
foot.  
  
It felt much better to fight somebody that didn't have his face.   
Fighting a slightly scaled, naked blue waman had a few distractions   
all it's own. She was alll sleek muscle and lean curves. She   
smelled angry, and determined, but he was fairly certain that evenr   
if she was as slippery as a snake, she wasn't venomous. Not with   
actual poison anyhow. She was fast, and fairly strong. There had   
definately been a lot of martial arts training, and she was   
practiced. Astonishingly flexible, and lots of flips and jumps.  
  
aaoooggghhhh she fights dirty. Jumped over my shoulder,   
twisted my arm and kicked the wind out of me. Every tendon in my arm   
and shoulder are protesting. I heard and felt things crackle in   
there. pain is not my friend. Now, she's apparently a fast study.   
More kicks to stay out of claw reach and knock some distance between   
us. She tried a chain, but I can counter that... The section of   
wire fence panel is even simpler to deal with, claws out, slice down   
the middle.  
  
A few more kicks, some impressive flips. She lands on a big   
box, in what looks like the proper gymnastical form... what am I   
supposed to do, applaud? She's smelling smug again. I know this   
means she has a plan, just can't figure what it could possibly be.   
That's when she just sort of ran up the wall into the shadows above   
the rafters and dissapeared.  
  
  
end part 2.  
  
  
  
  
Blue had got away, it was that simple. Not only had she   
dissapeared into the shodows, I had no idea where everyone else had   
gone. Bad form... not good to get separated. Even worse with a   
shapeshifter around. I could smell Scott and Jean, and Ororo, and   
somebody else in the main room. Some guy.. his scent was a   
bit.. slimey. I had him pegged as adult male, sneaky, smelled a bit   
slimey, like a scummed over pond in the summer. Aparently he's not   
a bad fighter though, smelled like violence all over the place. No   
blod though, which is always good. The whole room wa a mess.  
  
I could hear thunder rumbling over head. The clouds had picked   
up into a definate storm, and I wondered if it had been all nature's   
work, or if Ororo had had something to do with it. Still didn't   
tell me where they were now. Scott and Jean had gone that way...   
slimey had left the floor.. more leaps? But that didn't tell him   
where Ororo was.  
  
"Logan? Is that you?" her voice.. soft, slightly accented. He   
waited for the currents of air to carry her scent to him. He was   
starting to get a fine appreciation of sandalwood.  
  
"Shhh." he inhaled, tring to determine where everyone had gone   
one more time. Waiting for the scent of sandalwood, and lightning....  
"The other one isn't far away." the scent of scales and secrets was   
here also. The shapeshifter.  
  
" Logan, we have to regroup." She spoke again, her voice quiet.   
She was making excellant sense.... find the others, no more being   
split up.  
  
He inhaled again. Scales and secrets and satisfaction. That   
wasn't Ororo! How could that blue snake.... red edged his vision,   
and he barely held in something like a growl. Don't let her know I   
know...  
  
"There's just one problem." He turned suddenly, burying his claws   
into her stomach, just below the ribcage. " You're not part of the   
group." His voice was harsh, showing little of the rage he felt.  
  
He could see surprise and stunned shock in her expression.   
There was pain as she gasped around his claws, trying to regain the   
breath he had forced from her. He felt an upleasent feeling seeing   
that look on what appeared to be Ororo.. made him feel horribly wrong   
inside. He felt much better as her eyes changed from wide painfiled   
blue to wide golden snake eyes. Sharp metallic looking claws   
emerged from one upraised hand as she tried to fight her collapse,   
her hair changing to red and she slipped back off his claws. She   
was blue again as she hit the floor, barely bleeding, but not   
moving. She was unconscious, but she still had a steady pulse.  
  
It would have to do. She hadn't been the only fighter, and he   
still didn't know where everyone else was. hmmm where to try....   
how about that way?  
  
As he walked down a hall, a scent came to him. Scott and Jean   
were that way. They smelled suspicious, tired, but no blood. Good,   
blood was a bad thing from your teammates... he spared a moment to   
check for incriminating bloodstains on his hand. Got a feeling they   
wouldn't approve of stabbing people...espescially since this time   
was deliberate.  
  
Slide the door open and step towards them. They smell wary all   
of a sudden... "Hey, It's me." remember, no friendly fire. I put   
my hands up in a gesture intended to look harmless, or at least   
non-threatening. don't blast me... don't blast me...  
  
"Prove it." He's cautious, with one hand at his visor, ready to   
blast me if I take another step. Caution is good with a dangerous   
shapeshifter somewhere... I know this is really him and Jean, but   
they don't have my senses.  
  
"You're a dick." My voice is fairly quiet. I know he's being   
careful, but I resent having to prove my identity. Besides, Blue   
would probably figure we get along, all running around dressed   
alike.  
  
He's not thrilled I said that. I can tell that much from his   
posture. Apparently, he figures the shapeshifter probably wouldn't   
be insulting him, so I must be me. eeeh, I must be me? now I have   
another reason not to like shapeshifters, they mess with your   
thinking. Mine's messed up enough, thanks.  
  
"Hey." Ororo's voice, quiet and from the railed walkway overhead.   
The scent of sandalwood and rain and a hint of lightning. I drink   
in her scent like rain..   
  
Now we're regrouped. I actually feel like I am part of the   
group. It feels surprisingly good. Now, on to find Magneto and get   
Marie back to safety.  
  
  
  
end part 3. End this story. 


End file.
